'Tangible and collectible': luxury magazines enjoy revival as generation Z gets nostalgic

Like point-and-shoot cameras, vinyl records and brick phones, fashion magazines are having a revival primarily because of nostalgia-driven demand from generation Z.

- Chloe Mac Donnell

Today, i-D magazine makes its long-awaited return to newsstands. The publication has been absent since its parent company, Vice, declared bankruptcy in 2023. Since then, it has been acquired by the model-turned entrepreneur Karlie Kloss through her media conglomerate, Bedford Media. At a party to celebrate the relaunch, Kloss described i-D as "an extraordinary piece of fashion history," adding that she bought it because she "didn't want it to die."

"There has been a significant growth in interest in both making and acquiring print magazines," said Jeremy Leslie, an art director and founder of magCulture, an online platform and shop that specialises in independent magazines. "Young people are really interested in print. They use the internet but print is where the excitement lies. They want something tangible and collectible."

While mass-market magazines are suffering – the auditor ABC says the print circulation of nearly half of the magazines it examines declined by 10% or more in 2024 – "luxury" and indie titles are flourishing.

The National Portrait Gallery in London, which is hosting an exhibition dedicated to The Face, the magazine that championed youth culture during the 1980s and 90s, says that in its opening month it received more than 28,000 visitors, 14% of whom were under the age of 25.